God gives us many blessings and gifts as we follow Him. Much of the time, it is different between each person because none of us are created the same. We have different personalities, different backgrounds, different likes and dislikes and so forth. But there is one resource He gives us that is in the same quantity and measure as everyone else.
Time.
God gave each one of us 1,440 minutes in a single day. 525, 600 minutes in a year. I don’t know if you’ve ever experienced how fast time goes by but I challenge you to set a timer for 10 minutes and press repeat every time it goes off. Before long you’ll probably say something similar to what I did, “It’s been 10 minutes already?”Don’t let a microwave minute deceive you, time goes by faster than we care to admit.
In the last few months God has been opening my eyes to see how fast time goes. I was with my mom and grandma one afternoon on a shopping trip. On our way home it dawned on me. I’ll never, ever, get that time back. Those hours are gone. Then that thought started crossing my mind quite frequently and it has become a deep desire of mine to enjoy every moment I find myself in. All the hours I spent at my favorite coffee shop today – trying to batch some content so I can work on my new book, The Simplicity of Christianity; Running in the Will of God – are gone. I’ll never get them back. But I enjoyed every minute.
Life is too precious a gift to waste. This is the only time we get to practice living in faith. This is the only time we get to step out and trust God. If you are a true child of God, when you get to heaven, there will no longer be doubts. We will know the truth. We won’t get the opportunity to take steps of faith any longer.
We need to learn to redeem the time, enjoying every moment of life. Time is a gift from God to do with as we feel led to.
Ecclesiastes is a one of my favorite books. It encourages me to enjoy the time I have on earth, to enjoy the gifts God has given me, but to fervently remember what is most important in life. Chapter two, verse 24 is one that commonly comes to my mind.
There is nothing better for a man, than that he should eat and drink, and that he should make his soul enjoy good in his labour. This also I saw, that it was from the hand of God.
Ecclesiastes 2:24
Think about yesterday. What did you do? What good things happened? What was hard? What was encouraging? What made you sad?
Now, think about this for a minute – You will NEVER get that day back. How does that make you feel? Does it encourage you to focus on today? Does it make you glad, perhaps because it was a hard day? Does it sadden you because all you did was hurry up so you could end the day? Are there things you wished you would have done? Are there things you wished you hadn’t done? I encourage you to take note of this and ask God to help you redeem the time.
Ecclesiastes was written by a guy who had done pretty much everything and had everything his soul could desire, yet he makes it clear that it was all vain, there was no point. Unless our heart finds its delight in the Saviour of our soul, nothing in this world is worth anything at all. But according to 1 Corinthians, the work we do in the Lord is never in vain.
Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.
1 Corinthians 15:58
So take heart and enjoy the life God has given you in the Lord. Continually seek Him and obey His leading. I promise you, you’ll never regret following God’s voice, He is a good Father.
5 steps you need to take in order to start redeeming the time:
- Figure out What time is and why it is important
- Ask yourself, Does it really matter? This is your foundation. what is most important in your life? Really pray and seek God about this. See (verses on reconciliation or our purpose in life)
- Really sit down and ask yourself, Why do you do what you do? What is the deep root reason? For every answer you give, ask yourself why again until you can’t go any further.
- Seek God about what His Will is for your life? It can be Either a big picture or just in this season.
- Now you can begin to measure everything you do with your answers. You may need to write down everything above to remind yourself as time goes on. Are there things you need to eliminate from your life? Are there things you need to add? Seek God about this and spend time in His Word so you can make sure you are hearing from God. Spending time in His Word helps you to learn His voice.
Listen to episode #26 of the Be Still and Run by Alli Anne podcast on your favorite platform or by using the link below to search for it.
Happy Running!
Up Next: The Biggest Waste of Time is Not What You Think
#44 Missing Something? – Be Still And Run by Alli Anne
Be Still and Run 